Dar Al-Hijrah: D.C.’s Own Terror Factory

When five young Muslim-American men were captured in Pakistan in December 2009 attempting to join up with a terrorist group, it was no surprise that they were quickly linked to the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia.

Newsweekreported that at least one of the men attended Dar al-Hijrah, while another recent report indicated that the others attended an associated spin-off mosque in Alexandria. They were also all leaders of Muslim Student Association chapters in the Washington, D.C., area (I have reported on the MSA’s extensive terror ties here at PJM).

No sooner had the men been arrested than did the usual terror apologists (CAIR, et al.) hold a press conference — covered by all the establishment media — expressing shock and amazement at the plot. Speaking at the press conference that day was Dar al-Hijrah Director of Outreach Imam Johari Abdul Malik, who feigned ignorance at how these young men had been recruited for jihad right under their own noses.

If Rep. Peter King (R-NY), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, really wants to get to the bottom of radicalization in the American Muslim community — as he has promised upcoming congressional hearings on the issue — he doesn’t have far to look. A long line of terrorists and terrorist supporters from Dar al-Hijrah have regularly popped up in the news since 9/11. But Dar al-Hijrah is not some small strip-mall mosque; it is one of the largest Islamic centers in the eastern United States

The Pakistan Five case was not Johari Abdul-Malik’s first go-around with this sort of thing. After Dar al-Hijrah attendee Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was arrested in Saudi Arabia and confessed to being part of an al-Qaeda cell that was planning to assassinate President George W. Bush, in an interview with the New York Times Abdul-Malik compared Abu Ali to civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

But Abu Ali was hardly a marginal figure at Dar al-Hijrah. He not only was a youth leader at the mosque and regularly delivered prayers there, he taught Islamic studies at the center and was a camp counselor for their youth summer day camp. During his trial, current Dar al-Hijrah senior Imam Shaker el-Sayed served as the Abu Ali family spokesman and chauffeur. Abu Ali was convicted on a range of terrorism charges and sentenced to a 30-year prison term. A federal appeals court overturned the sentencing, and ordered the district judge to impose a life sentence in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines.

The Dar al-Hijrah star pupil made news last year when his request for copies of Barack Obama’s books — Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope — was denied by federal prison authorities on grounds that the books were “potentially detrimental to national security.”

Even more notorious than Ahmed Omar Abu Ali is former Dar al-Hijrah Imam Anwar al-Awlaki, the wanted al-Qaeda cleric currently subject to a presidential kill-or-capture order. Awlaki was the imam for Dar al-Hijrah in 2001 and 2002, during which time he was spiritual leader to at least three of the 9/11 hijackers. Two of them, Nawaf Alhazmi and Hani Hanjour, followed the imam from San Diego to Virginia and attended the mosque.

But Awlaki’s terrorist connections go back long before he appeared at Dar al-Hijrah. After the 9/11 attacks, Awlaki was repeatedly questioned by the FBI about his contacts with the hijackers and was cited in a 2003 congressional joint inquiry for his possible knowledge of the plot. A raid on the home of one of the plotter’s co-conspirators, Ramzi Binalshibh, in Germany yielded the phone number of the mosque in his personal phone book.

During Awlaki’s tenure at Dar al-Hijrah, he was known for fiery anti-American sermons, but after the 9/11 attacks he told the New York Times that such sentiments “we won’t tolerate anymore.” That didn’t prevent him from — a couple weeks later — defending the Taliban in an online chat for the Washington Post and tellingNational Geographic magazine that Israel was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

One of Awlaki’s Dar al-Hijrah terror protégés was Fort Hood killer Major Nidal Hasan, who attended the mosque while Awlaki was the imam. The pair were in email communication before Hasan’s attack, which killed 13 armed service members. After the Fort Hood massacre, Johari Abdul-Malik was once again cited in a PBS Newshour report claiming that Awlaki had been radicalized after he had left the mosque’s employment and claiming that FBI harassment had driven him to al-Qaeda. After the Fort Hood killings, Awlaki called Major Hasan “a hero” on his website.

But didn’t you get the memo from the Obama administration? There is NO “War on Terror” anymore. This is all a figment of your racist imagination, as CAIR would have you believe. And according the Janet Napolitano, we have more to fear from “right wing” militia groups here in the United States than we do these Islamic Jihadists. Do you also think Holder would do anything to discourage these people, like putting 24/7/365 surveillance on anybody who is remotely connected to these groups? To paraphrase the sign with George W. Bush on it, “Miss him yet?”

The evidence is all around Mr. King. Ask Kevin McCarthy and ask Hirisi-Ali. Read a history book about the spread of Islam by the sword, torture, and subjugation. Then inflitrate the Mosques and shut down the radicals. Either they respect our laws or get the hell out.

General: you are wrong.
Patrick: as a former muslim my self. if we are going to fight this phenomenon here we must tackle Islam and not muslims. the problem here is not with muslims but it is Islam. just like Geert Wilder said, there are moderate muslims and but there is no such a thing as moderate islam.

Correct. Also – every charitible muslim group needs to be kicked out of the US and their assests frozen.

According to the koran they don’t believe in charity because it’s allahs will for people to be poor. That’s why you see those huge oil rich country’s never give aid to other muslim country’s that get hit with natural disasters – because it is allahs will and giving aid or charity would be going against allahs will.

All these charities are front groups for laundering terrorist funding. Period.

We know these people and places are be used to indoctrinate and plot against USA people and places- we have much evidence of treason and crimes- why are they still allowed to operate freely by hiding under laws designed to protect religion? ISLAM is the ONLY so called religion that is also a political plan aimed at destroying it’s hosts- as such should never be allowed to be practiced inside USA.
Why do we tolerate these groups on our campuses?
We need to redefine ISLAm for what it is and it deserves no protection as a religion any more than FASCISM of any other kind does. Tired of this stupid game of charades- make it a crime to practice ISLAM.